This was by far the easiest. Strange how they are getting easier, the third was not too hard either, after the horrible second riddle with that Blue Dwarf that as far as I can see had nothing to do with a star, maybe it's some silly pop culture thing.

My head was obviously elsewhere this morning. Today is the first time I had to walk away from the computer to come back and solve the riddle later.

My saving grace this evening was that I had read all the clues this morning. While poking around again this evening trying to decipher one of the clues, I recognized the next clue. I would not have realized that I deciphered the clue correctly, had I not noticed the answer to the subsequent clue.

Being aware of the NEXT thing I would be looking for helped me identify the clue I was presently working on.

Can I get the Wizard with the Winning Wand to wave some prizes into my future?

Problem? Possibly prudent practice, presuming perturbed by perplexing puzzle, is to postulate that particular previous progression presented a plausible poser of the path to perfection, and not proof positive of piloting proper progress. Patch pathway and prevail.